All is Fair in Love and War
by LordOda
Summary: Star Wars AU The struggles of a Rebel cell known as The Roses of Freedom against the Empire. Hope and Love against Evil and Hate, two pairs of sisters fated to clash because of the side of history they find themselves on. Sometimes things aren't so cut and dry.
1. The Beginning

I don't own Star Wars or RWBY

Any resemblances to people or persons is a coincidence.

The cruiser exited hyperspace, the stars returning to pinpoints of light instead of streaks across the infinite horizon. Admiral Winter Schnee stood overlooking the bridge of her heavily modified personal Venator class Star Destroyer 'The Ever Resolute' many other Imperial officers thought she was insane for using such an old destroyer model but she was known for not giving much weight to others opinions and she had shown on several occasions had found great success in the older smaller destroyer where most had transitioned long ago to the Imperial class Star Destroyers.

She had proven her skill over and over in the outer and mid rim hunting pirates and isolated rebel splinter cells. The Ever Resolute had been set up to carry almost 400 tie fighters, bombers and other models, this had given her the flexibility to smash these uprisings and pirate fleets. She would never claim all of it as her own success exclusively as her own, her younger sister Weiss had been in charge of her fighter wings and had proven her skills as well. The sisters had made a name for themselves as some of these most skilled officers against the rebellion in the empire.

Now they found themselves hunting for their prey near Bespin searching due to rumors of increased rebel activity in the region. Winters small fleet had been sent to quell any threats they found in the region. Her ship serving as the flag ship along with its sister ship 'The Calm Strength' and an Interdictor class cruiser, three smaller Arquitens cruisers and an assortment of support vessels.

Their arrival was far less noticeable than if an Imperial class and its fleet had been sent and the Emperor wanted this to work so he had deemed it best to send his most Rebel hunting fleet to deal with the insurgents.

Meanwhile on the other side of the system the former pirate gang turned Rebels known only as The Roses of Freedom. The group had undergone several different forms and leadership, but it was now being led by a pair of sisters as if to counter the Imperial fleet that had arrived. The Xiao Long sisters had taken over from their parents as the leaders of the group and had turned it into its current form as a rebel cell trying to overthrow Imperial domination of the galaxy at large. Yang Xiao Long the elder sister led the hit and runs on the ground, the fighters in space battles and handled most of the recruitment and guard for their base. Ruby Rose-Xiao Long the baby sister handled commanding most everything else and wa regarded more or less as the leader of the group overall. Though some special duties were left to Yang's fiance Blake, primarily spying, and anything else that could be considered as shady since Ruby was too paranoid and skittish for those kinds of jobs and Yang too loud and hot headed, so everyone decided it was for the best that Blake handled it. Their group had evolved and grown in sophistication now they were in a strong position. Adding ships, troops and supplies growing now they were beginning to gather allies and deals.

Unaware of the Imperial task forces arrival in system Ruby was busy typing away at a terminal in her hideout preparing some new leaflets to distribute at a rally soon, hoping to get more recruits since their forces were starting to get big enough to need to radically arm up since it was only a matter of time until Imperials noticed them. Her Sister and Blake were busy at a meeting with some local smugglers to secure them more blasters and thermal detonators for the raid on the Imperial fuel facility in a few weeks, they needed to cripple the Imperial forces abilities to stay in system and operate their ships before the enemy could establish a large presence, the local garrison was already enough of a hassle the last thing Ruby needed was a fleet from the Empire to come and start making their operations more difficult.

Hope you enjoyed the story and want to see more. If so please feel free to comment to let me know. The chapters will get longer as the story can really getting moving! Have a great day!


	2. Chapter 2 Arrival

I do not own Star Wars of RWBY (Sadly) Any resemblance to real people or persons is a coincidence.

Yang was annoyed, these smugglers were always a type she couldn't stand. They were to wishy washy for her taste, they would turn and run if they ever thought they were in danger and yet acted like they were big shots.

"Why should we even consider working for you again, not like you can exactly protect us hun" the scraggly human man was rude and smelled like he probably hadn't stepped into a shower in a month or longer. He was getting on her nerves as he spoke so rudely to Blake who never let her emotions show through her mask of professionalism, hence why she had been the one to handle the negotiations with the leader of the Fast Boys smugglers, the biggest group here on Bespin.

"Sir, you know we have the money and if you do your side right you won't even need protection but if you do our fleet is quite capable of running interference and protection for your ships. Now it's simply a matter of price, I was thinking this much" Blake slid the datapad across to the smuggler who took a long look at the numbers of required materials and the offered price, one hand stroking his bristling beard, hairs poking out in every direction like some kind of womp rat was pretending to be his facial hair. One eyebrow cocks up slightly as he looks up "You lot seem like you need some serious firepower, rocket launchers and thermals? What are you planning?"

"Nothing you need to worry about old man" Yang snapped at him a bit harshly. Blake places a hand on her fiance's gripping it lightly "I'm sorry she is just tired, we have been rather busy lately. As for your question, information is not cheap." her voice trails off slightly as if challenging the older man to test her. He stare across at the two of them, his eyes flicking back to the large man behind them holding a rather intense looking blaster rifle some kind of body guard or soldier with the girls.

He lets out a long sigh before nodding at the dark haired girl "We want half of the pay upfront and the rest after we get the shipment to you" he puts his good hand out across the table and shakes with her before standing and exiting the room.

Back at the hideout Ruby sits up more straight as one of her advisors a Quarran whose name is beyond her ability to even attempt. He hands her a datapad tapping a few buttons to show her a report from a trader that Ruby had set up friendly relations. 'Hey Red just thought you'd like to know we got some new friends in the area.' a picture of a small flotilla of Imperial ships moving through space though she was shocked by the unusual fleet, no Imperial classes. She always knew they'd come but she had expected a normal response. She turns "Aren't those the old Star Destroyers that the Republic used to use during the war?" he nods back at her question. She was totally shocked, Venators weren't very common anymore since apparently they didn't match the Tarkin Doctrine. This meant her plan needed to be accelerated much to her chagrin, so many carefully laid plans now going to have to be rushed at the last minute to ensure they can weaken this new threat as soon as possible.

She stood and began walking towards her speeder quickly typing out a message to her sister on her comlink. 'We have a big problem' She primed the vehicle as she jumped in and shot off down the streets zooming towards the warehouse that served as the main base of operations on Bespin's Cloud City.

Far above the gas giant Winter and Weiss looked out from the bridge of the Ever Resolute as compliments of Tie Fighters formed up into patrols. A small smirk shared on their faces "Well we are certainly going to make it clear that the rebels are going to have to face us now" Weiss looked up at her older sister as dozens of patrol groups going down into the atmosphere and circling the planet as the fleet takes up a position high above the floating city.

"Shall we head down dear sister?" Winter asks to the younger of the Schnee sister. They turn and head down to the hangar where their shuttle awaited them. The shuttle lifts off smoothly as the ramp seals behind them, the sisters accompanied by a detail of Stormtroopers and a wing of Tie Fighters escorting their shuttle to their destination.

Ruby arrive at the warehouse almost immediately after her sister, who rushes to her side "What's wrong Rubes, what's going on that has you all riled up?" the two older girls taking up almost protective stances around her, Blake looks calm as usual. Yang on the other hand is almost panicking over her baby sis checking her for injuries. "Yang stop please, I am fine but we have a big issue." she turns to the assembled rebels maybe 30 of the members of the roses are standing looking towards their leaders waiting with bated breath to hear what's wrong. "Everyone thank you for your hard work but we are going to need to work harder and accelerate the plans, an Imperial task force has just arrived here on planet. We must get everything set up and then we have a decision to make, we can go to ground, keep low and wait them out. Or we can launch a preemptive strike and see if we can weaken them before they can dig in. This could be our moment." she stands as tall as a 5'3" girl can before the assorted men and women of her forces, sounding far more confident than she really is but unwilling to let her people know how stressed out she is, but she does feel a bit better with her sister and her best friend at her sides.

Second chapter done, hope you all enjoyed! More to come soon (hopefully) Have a great day!


	3. Chapter 3 Meetings

I don't own RWBY or Star Wars (Otherwise we'd have an Obi Wan movie and a Thrawn movie instead of Solo and Rogue)

yada yada about real people not being connected.

The shuttle shuttered slightly as it settled onto the landing pad near the docks of Cloud City, a few officials from the city greet them. No one of great importance just a few advisors and officers managing to arrive before the Imperial troops began exiting the shuttle their arrival clearly unexpected. The stormtroopers exited securing the pad as Winter and Weiss walked down the ramp barely sparing the officials a second glance as they walk right past them. The bewildered men following after chattering nervously at the two Imperial officers while the stormtroopers follow behind marching in step the sound of their boots clanking on the ground sounding disturbingly loud, "We are here to speak with Administrator Calrissian. He is in his office I presume?" Winter says not slowing or turning to the following officials.

"Ma'am while we are extremely happy to being hosting such an illustrious persons as yourselves… but the Administrator is not... Uh, present currently." the man stutters out worried about the reaction of the imposing alabaster haired woman. Who for the first time since arriving on the gas ball known as Bespin, stopped walking. Her head turning slowly with deliberate control, finally taking in the short mousey looking man with a receding hairline and a very poorly kept moustache. He tries to stand taller but only manages to make his ill fitting uniform strain to contain is rather impressive gut. "I see. Do tell where has he snuck away too this time?" Winter turns her full attention to the man, Weiss and the troopers watch on as the man fills with fear.

The man began to sweat as the aura of the woman intimidated him, he imagined Lord Vader was the scary one but this woman seemed to be just as terrifying to him at this moment. "He… uh he said something about a… a buying trip and gambling. He left aboard the Lady Luck a couple of days ago ma'am he left myself and the two others in charge until his return." he points to the two other men dressed similarly to him, they too now worried. Winters only reaction that revealed her true emotions, was the twitch of her right eye that told Weiss how mad she really was.

"Fine. Well then I'll tell you then. We are temporarily taking command of the city to deal with the threat of rebels in the region. I suppose you three won't have any issues with that, correct?" Winters voice is cold and doesn't leave any room for negotiation. The men quickly nod before backing off from the sisters arranging the necessary things for the girls to operate within the city without the guards interfering. A few hours later Winter and Weiss were sitting eating a meal in a nice quiet restaurant in the city as troops settled into their patrols all over the city. Dozens of new checkpoints and guard towers along with AT-ST and stormtroopers roamed the streets establishing a strong Imperial presence that is reinforced by the squadrons of TIE fighters that occasionally scream past overhead. Many of the high rollers had been startled by the sudden arrival of the Empire on the city in the sky above the tibanna giant and while some of the ones there for more shady reasons had quietly excused themselves just to be stopped as they tried to leave by the fleet above.

"Sister don't you think we should take a more aggressive approach and raid suspected rebel bases?" Weiss respected her elder sister's tactical mind but had always been one for the more straightforward approach. "Also are these dresses really necessary?" she looked down at the overly fancy dress wear they had bought less than half an hour before in a shop nearby. She much preferred her uniform, especially around these older men who wouldn't stop openly eyeing the sisters much to her irritation. This revealed much more skin than she was comfortable with, her eyes swept back across the other diners once again wishing at least she could carry her normal blaster rather than this small holdout type she had strapped to her thigh. The gun was nowhere near as strong but it could be concealed on the person even in such a gown, the white strapless dresses look very similar giving the two girls a very nice matching style not that Weiss cared as she preferred something useful and sensible though she had to admit the skirt was something she could appreciate.

"Weiss it's important that we not shake thing up here to badly as that might make the rebels scatter until we leave or even cause more people to join them or assist them to hide from us. As for the dress, I think you wear it wonderfully sister, not to mention we would stick out in our officers uniforms and would practically be begging for the rebels to attack us. I think we should enjoy a little down time we have been cramped up in the fleet for months on end recently and it would be nice to see the city for a bit without worry." Winter cared for and loved her younger sister but Weiss often seemed to struggle with relaxing and letting her hair down, both figuratively and literally. There father had been the cause of that and now Winter had to constantly make these little down times for them to help Weiss decompress.

Weiss seemed to accept her sisters reasoning without any argument instead finishing the salad in front of her. Winter quietly settles the bill as she watches her younger sister enjoy the meal even if Weiss would never admit it she knew that she enjoyed these outings. As they finished their meals they retrieved their coats and exited and began walking towards the shopping area just down the street intent on seeing what the city merchants specialized in, Weiss hoped to find more crystal specimens, as an avid collector her fascination in the small stones she had been collecting though every planet they went too she checked for one specific type, a kyber crystal but she had still yet to find one of the rare type, though a few shadier merchants had tried to pawn much less valuable crystals off as one of the legendary power crystals.

As the two sisters walked along in amicable silence before a heavily modded speeder bike turned aggressively onto the road down from them. A man in armor wielding a small blaster rifle zooming towards the sisters "SCHNEEEEE" he bellows as he nearly rams the girls who manage to throw themselves out of the way of their would be assassin. His chest plate bearing the emblem of them extremist group the White Fang his first few shots missing as he careens towards them, upon missing his charge he sweeps back around on the speeder and lines up to make another run. Both girls now in a little cover of a shop front with their small hold out blasters out, Weiss opens fire but doesn't have much effect as Winter grabs her comlink and calls for stormtrooper support. The bike lurches forward the rider firing his blaster and the light rapid fire blaster on the nose of his speeder, sending a hail of fire on their position as he speeds towards them.

As they duck down to avoid being killed by the rain of blaster fire they realize this killer will get them before a squad can arrive and hear him getting closer rapidly. They both decide to at least make a stand, their eyes meet before both popping up firing their blasters, the rounds do little to no damage to him or his vehicle, the armor more than enough for the low power of such small weapons. Before his vehicle can hit them though a loud crack sounds from down the street, a round slamming into the bike faster than the eye can see causing the vehicle to jerk hard to the left sending it into a death spiral crashing into the wall of the building the rider having been thrown moments before saving his life as his bike explodes into shrapnel. The attacker quickly jumping up and whipping towards the new threat and opening fire. The sisters couldn't see who was fighting him but knew at least it wasn't a stormtrooper, there wouldn't be any lone troopers and none used a rare slug thrower like what had clearly struck the bike. Another round shoots past clearly having just missed their attacker, they decided to help their savior both opening fire even knowing it probably wouldn't kill the Fang assassin but hoping to put him off guard so the shooter could get a clear shot.

"Weiss go left and keep firing, if we can force him into the open the other shooter ight be able to actually take him down or keep him busy long enough for a squad to get here. But do not be a hero." They both kept pouring fire onto his location causing him to finally jump from cover to fire at them, his blaster rises and takes aim at Winter as she moves. His finger pulling just as a slug hits him hard in his side, punching straight through his armor causing the blaster to jump and sending its round high just barely missing Winter practically singeing her hair. He sways before falling forward to his knees, laster falling from his nerveless fingers, Weiss having seen how close her sister came to being shot runs forward as quickly as she can wearing a dress and with all the rubble from the incident having been thrown everywhere by the blaster fire and the crash. "Winter are you okay, god please talk to me" she drops to her knees next to her older sister.

"I'm fine Weiss, its okay, we are okay. Thanks to her" Winter points past the younger woman who follows to look at the third who was striding towards them with an odd looking pistol in her holster. Her dark hair reflecting the light of the sun as she gets close. Her red and black coat and tight black pants and boots giving her an almost roguish look with the gun on her waist one hand resting on it. "Are you both alright?" a voice betraying how young the girl was, she couldn't be more than 20, as she gets closer Weiss also realizes to her annoyance that see is slightly taller than her. The girl girl standing in front of them smiling at the two sisters offering her hand to them with red hair tips and most startlingly at least in Weiss and Winters mind, her striking silver eyes full of happiness and joy

Third chapter down and a bit longer this time. Hope you all enjoy!

Have a great day!


	4. Chapter 4 Friends?

I wish I owned RWBY or Star Wars but I don't so oh well.

Ruby didn't know that the Fang had been present in the city and was going to have to talk with her informants about missing that important fact, she also had no clue why he had been after the two women either but she couldn't just stand by and let him kill them. Drawing her trusty slug thrower nicknamed Crimson Holdout firing off round after round at the attacker eventually taking him down as he jumps from cover to try and kill one of the women. She lets out a deep sigh and wipes away the thin layer of sweat that had broken out across her forehead during the shoot out, getting up from her cover and holstering her gun as she approaches the two women. "Are you both alright?" she asks as she gets close to finally she offers her hand to them to. Suddenly she realizes just how stunning the two are, their long alabaster hair and snow white skin with deep blue eyes, deeper than anything that she had ever seen.

She can feel her face warm up a bit as she realized she had been staring at them. The taller woman taking her hand and the two sisters rise and stand to speak with her, Ruby's mouth suddenly feeling very dry as the two beauties stare back at her. "Thank you so much for your assistance. May we have the name of the woman who we owe our lives too?" the younger girl says, her voice much more calm and elegant now than her earlier panic. Ruby knew she probably needed to leave soon as there was no way stormtroopers aren't on their way, but it was hard to leave these two without at least getting their names.

"Uh… I'm Ruby! What's uh what is your names? If you don't mind me asking of course, if not that's totally fine I know I'm essentially just a stranger and all so it makes plenty of sense…" she is cut off by the taller girl placing a finger to her lips. "Calm down Ruby, thank you again for helping us. I doubt we were going to be able to take that man down with just our weapons, if not for you I think we would have been injured or even killed by that mad man. I am Winter Schnee and this is my baby sister Weiss. We owe you our lives, and hopefully you will allow us to repay you." Winter found the babbling girl rather adorable despite her rather proven skilled at fighting in the shootout but was disappointed when the girls eyes broke contact with hers as they dart nervously down the street as a squad of troopers came around the corner running towards them.

The dark haired girl quickly turns and begins to leave giving the older girls a small wave "It was awesome meeting you Winter and Weiss, take care of yourselves!" she jogs off disappearing into the crowds that had reformed after the attack, some parting to let the trooper squad through. The stormtroopers halt and salute their commanding officers "Ma'am we got here as soon as we could, are you alright?" Winter turns to the sergeant in charge of the small squad and address the soldier. "We are fine, a bit worse for wear but we both survived. Thankfully a passerby assisted us in fighting the attacker off. But we must be more weary of the White Fang as apparently they are present here in the city, put our forces on high alert immediately." Winter had her usual harsh tone she reserved for issuing orders to her forces.

The trooper snaps a smart salute before he turns to speak into his comlink likely informing the necessary to inform the rest of their forces. Winter and Weiss share a knowing glance as they begin towards the approaching shuttle that had come to retrieve them, they were both intrigued by the girl they had met and been saved by and having spent so much of their lives together that they know each other well. Knowing how to read the other like a book they both knew they now had much to talk about, and despite the trip having been ruined by the attack neither woman could say they were all that upset. Now they had met an extremely interesting person who had caught their attention been given the perfect excuse to crack down on the planet.

As the shuttle departed to return to the ship they sit in silence, not willing to talk about their shared thoughts in the presence of the stormtroopers who were accompanying them back to their star destroyer. The craft lands in the safety of the cruiser, they depart the shuttle with Weiss dismissing the troopers and they head to Winters private quarters where they seal the door and sit down to talk. "Winter are we thinking the same thing?" Weiss looks to her older sister from across the room as her sister takes a seat on her bed. The elder Schnee pulls her hair out of its bun, something that's rare to see either of them do, she then meets Weiss's look their eyes locking like two oceans meeting in the confines of the room. "Well sister it depends are you talking about how fortuitous it is to have been given a perfect reason to justify our presence here on the planet and to increase our guard of the city? Or perhaps about the positively adorable girl who saved our lives from the fang assassin?" her snow white eyebrow arches as she smirks at her sisters blushing reaction at the mention of Ruby.

Back down on Cloud City Ruby sneezes, looks around the warehouse before waving it off as just dust in the building. Turning to face her sister and their most trusted lieutenants preparing to lay out their plans for the next few weeks going forward to deal with their situation, which had been made even harder thanks to the Fang deciding to get involved.

Another chapter down, many more to come.

Have a great day everyone!


	5. Chapter 5 First Strike

I still don't own Star Wars or RWBY, y'all will be the first to hear if that changes.

"Would someone like to explain why there was WHITE FANG HERE AND NO ONE TOLD ME!?" Ruby was pissed as she entered her makeshift command post in the run down warehouse that had served as the main base for the Roses since she and Yang had taken over leading the group years ago. Her shoulders slump as the adrenaline left her body from the shootout and the encounter with the two beautiful women who she had saved. One of the lieutenants a tall wookie warrior she had met over two years earlier stands and begins making gentle cooing noises, or as gentle as a wookie could muster. The tall female wookie had taken to the orphaned sisters and had stuck with them going so far as to join and help lead the group when they had been chosen to lead.

Lika the wookie began briskly looking her over for injuries as she had taken the roll of lead medic for the Roses, satisfied that Ruby was fine other than a few scuffs she calmed and gave the shorter woman her space. "Thank you Lika, I am fine he wasn't that great a shot and my armor blocked most everything he threw my way anyhow." Her armor wasn't very big, simply a small plate under her shirt protecting the most vital organs but she had managed to secure mandalorian iron for it making it very good at its job. Even today the plate had done its job wonderfully, thankfully it did and the girls hadn't noticed the hole in her blouse in the center of her chest. The overshirt hid it well enough but if she hadn't been wearing her armor that shot would have definitely have done her in. Ruby rest her hand on the piece of metal as if to remind herself that it had actually held off the blast, that assassins rifle hadn't been a weak gun, she had barely been able to keep herself standing when the high powered round had hit her.

"Ma'am we have just detected his presence here a few minutes before the attack. My apologies but we did try to raise you on the coms to warn you, he must have been hiding aboard a shipping vessel and took off from there since we didn't pick him up until he was already in the city." One of her intel guys reported from his terminal, looking a bit sheepish as he was clearly upset with his own inability to alert their leader before the enemy could attack. The man was young but had basically been raised by the Roses after his own parents had died, he was very devoted to the group.

"Jax it's fine, just frustrated at him messing up our plans." She lets out a long sigh as Blake and Yang enter, the blonde woman instantly seeing the burnt hole in her sisters shirt with the glint of the armor underneath it rushes forward towards the younger woman. "RUBES WHAT HAPPENED?!" pulling the shorter sister into a death grip hug. Practically crushing Ruby in her over protective hug as the blonde looks around for perceived threats, meanwhile Blake watches on with a bemused smile at the antics of her fiance and her sister in law.

Ruby begins to tap out, "Yang… breath… need air" the older sister realizes what she is doing and lets go, leaving Ruby sucking in air like a drowning man. She finally stands up at full height as her big sister slaps her back smiling "Seriously are you alright little sister? Looks like you took a bad hit, who did it?" her smiles quickly turns serious as she looks to the shorter girl. Blake realizing what happened steps forward placing a hand on the elder of the two sisters shoulder to calm her. "The white fang attacker did it, didn't they?" her ears lowering themselves tight against her head as she talks about her former rebel cell. She had abandoned them after they had turned violent radicals who attacked disregarding innocent lives. Having left years ago they had only gotten worse, no one was safe from targeting by the Fang only having caused Blake more anger but she had found refuge with the Roses of Freedom and more specifically with the fiery Yang Xiao Long.

"Yes, they tried to kill two women and I had no choice but too intervene to protect them. He got a lucky hit but my armor took it like a champ, thank the force..." the last words little more than a prayer to herself as she spoke.

"Regardless this changes everything, the Imperials have already begun to lock the city down we have to make a choice, we can either begin Operation Whirlwind or hide out until they relax their guard again." Ruby turns to her 3 closest advisors, Lika rumbled that they needed to take action. Blake and Yang both simply nod in agreement. Ruby looks between them before rolling her eyes as she chuckles "I figured you all would be that way. Ok well I guess we need to get ready and begin to prep our people for this operation. I will handle things at the port, you all prepare everyone else please." She watches as the 3 others leave to set about beginning the plan to try and cripple the Imperial forces.

A matter of hours later they are almost finished as the night settles over the floating city. Unbenounced to the Imperial patrols just underneath them in the ugnaughts tunnels rebel troops begin to get into position, a small fleet of fighters and bombers prime their engines in an older warehouse rarely even given a second glance until in a sudden burst of action its doors are thrown wide, a swarm of X-wings, Y-wings and assorted uglies scramble into the air and rapidly ascend up away from the massive platform making a beeline towards their targets. Meanwhile in the streets all over the city hatches in the ground are thrown open and troopers pour out and begin to assault critical Imperial positions all at once.

Little did the rebels realize just how ready the Imperial forces had been for this attack.

Hope you all enjoyed the new chapter! Have a great weekend!


	6. Chapter 6 Plans Fall Apart

I still don't own Star Wars or RWBY, hopefully that will change someday.

Yang and her squad exited from the tunnel leading inside one of the hangars the Imperials were supposed to be storing their fighters in, she had expected at least a few guards but was confused to see not a single soldier or troopers around. At least the TIE fighters were here, she pulled her comlink and called back to the HQ but found her signal was not there. "Guys are we out of range?" she asked over her shoulder to her squad, a few shrugged or gave non committal answers since they weren't comms guys they were just troopers if it didn't involve shooting at Imperials they didn't know a lot about it. Shaking her head as they spread out to secure the hangar she noticed there wasn't anything else here, no fuel, crates or anything other than the fighters mounted to their racks.

"I've got a bad feeling about this" Her lieutenant nodded in agreement with the statement. As her troops began setting up the detonators to wipe out the enemy TIE's she heard a hissing sound, looking around she tried to figure out where it was coming from she saw it. A thin spray of green gas pours from the vents in the ceiling and drifting down into the room. "Everyone back to the tunnel now!" Her troops stop what they are doing and grab their equipment before they begin to run for the tunnels, just as they do the main doors open and squads of stormtroopers begin to pour in and open fire on the retreating rebels striking and killing a few and wounding many more. "Dammit, get the wounded, we are leaving" Yang yells over the blaster fire as she returns fire from the entrance of the tunnel before her and several troops rush back grabbing their wounded friends while trying to return fire as they pull them back to the tunnel.

The rebels manage to get away killing a few stormtroopers bubt sadly lose some of their own before sealing the tunnel. "Shit we need to get back to the base, are our communications still down?" Yang turns to her troops, a few try but still can't get through. "We are being jammed, we need to leave right now." With only half her squad still alive they begin to limp back towards the base.

Across the city this scene was repeated in some cases significantly less rebels escaping from the traps and being unable to alert their allies to the danger, the survivors all trying to make it home alive. Meanwhile unaware of the fate of their ground forces Ruby and her attack squadrons continue their charge towards their target, the Imperial hangars and fuel stations.

"Alright fighters form up in a screen and prepare to make your runs or engage the fighters depending on their reaction. Bombers follow me and we will begin our attack runs on the fuel stations." Ruby gives her orders from her heavily modified Barloz freighter 'The Crescent Rose' having opted for firepower and equipped it to give her a lot of fighting power for a relatively small ship. Having spent an immense amount of time tinkering with the vessel even going so far as to make her own droid brains to operate two of the turrets with a relatively high degree of success meaning she only needed one other copilot and left room for a few more people on the ship.

As her ship and the bombers formed up and the fighters rushed ahead of them to form a protective screen to keep any TIEs that might take off from attacking the slower bombers. "They don't seem to have noticed us boss" came the fighter leaders voice over the comlink, she had noticed as well that not a single fighter had launched which she found very odd, there was no way unless an atmospheric electrical storm was messing with their detection systems. She checked her systems and wasn't detecting anything either. Her brow scrunches up and Lika looks over and makes a small growl "I think you are right, something isn't right here." one last glance at the readout reaffirmed the growing pit in her stomach.

"Everyone break off, something isn't right. Fall back now." She waited for a response, after a minute she realized no one had responded or began to act, it all clicked at the last moment as she gunned it to get out front to the fighters rushing past them before making her ship tilt hard left and right before breaking hard to the left. Her pilots realizing what that meant immediately broke off to follow her, but beneath her rose up like some kind of sea monster was the second Venator Star Destroyer with its ventral hangar bay wide open and TIE fighters pouring out at the same time the floating hangers also begin to scramble all of its fighters as well, suddenly the skies are full of hundreds of screeching TIE's and streaks of bright green lasers as the Venators batteries open fire.

Ruby can practically feel her brain sprinting as she is forced to make a choice, try and run. Hope that they can lose the TIE's before they make it back to Cloud City and can hide, or turn and desperately try to fight off the massive swarm of enemies. "DAMMIT" she yells as she forces the Rose into a dive into the gas with all of her pilots diving to follow, all she can do is hope they can stick close enough to see her engines to follow her and that the enemy wouldn't be able to follow or at the least wouldn't risk firing into the Tibanna gas. As she moves through the gas she continuously checks her scanners but gives up after the first few minutes, the gasses would be blocking them if the Empire wasn't still in range of jamming them all she could do now is continue and hope her fellow rebels hadn't lost her or could find their way back on their own. "Lika you don't think the knew we were going to attack do you? If they did… what about the ground attacks, oh force I hope Yang and Blake are safe with the others." Lika just makes a small comforting growl knowing just as well as the younger woman that if they were ready enough to have a star ship ready that they probably had been ready in Cloud City as well.

Meanwhile aboard the bridge of 'The Ever Resolute' Winter and Weiss stood as their communications officer informs them of the plans proceeding. "It's unfortunate that their fighters managed to slip away but our ground troops report success across the city, current estimates are 70 percent of the rebel ground forces are dead or captured. So I'd call it a resounding success Winter, good work predicting their plan." Winter smirks, this is the first but hopefully not the last success here and soon their work will be done so they can relax for a bit.

Ruby settles the Rose onto the landing platform and watches as maybe half of their original fighters and bombers land in the warehouse, how many she lost to TIE's and how many are lost somewhere in the gas she isn't sure, and she doesn't feel any better either way. As she makes her way back to the HQ she sees Yang sitting at the entrance with her head resting on her hands, putting two and two together she nearly collapses "How many?" she asks in a shaky voice, Yang simply looks up at her younger sister and shakes her head forlornly.

Hope you all enjoyed, might be a bit more graphic in the future if you all seem to want it.


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